Pseudo-ransomware and struggling security budgets. Here are the top security headlines for the week of August 14, 2017: Who would have thought we would long for the days when ransomware was ransomware. Now it’s all too complicated. Bitcoin is going mainstream, but does that mean it’s a bad investment? In a case of the cobbler’s children have no shoes, data brokers seem to be lacking basic security. Raise the roof! It looks like cybersecurity might be hitting a ceiling when it comes to spending. No spoilers, but HBO has been hacked again and OurMine is taking over their social accounts.   LG is the latest victim of WannaCry-like Ransomware  

By Adrian Davis, CISSP, Managing Director EMEA, (ISC)² The National Crime Agency recently revealed a fascinating intelligence assessment, uncovering the ‘pathways into cyber crime’. The key finding was that most young hackers are motivated, not by financial reward, but by idealism. The NCA added that many of those involved in cyber-crime had “highly marketable” skill sets, and evidence showed that positive role models could help steer ex-offenders towards productive technology careers. Many people feel that re-training young cyber offenders as cyber security professionals offers a chance to kill two birds with one stone; reducing cyber-crime and simultaneously helping to reduce the cyber skills shortage. The NCA proposed creating a “toolkit of positive diversions” for young people deemed to be at

(ISC)² is proud to announce that our membership has surpassed 125,000 certified cybersecurity professionals globally. As demand for skilled security professionals continues to grow exponentially, (ISC)² certification and continuing education programs enable cybersecurity and IT security practitioners to prove their expertise, advance their careers and contribute to a more secure society. Here’s what some members are saying about the milestone:                   "125,000 members is a very large number for a community of dedicated people continuously raising the bar by learning, researching, teaching and sharing their knowledge and skills to make our cyber world safer,” said Emmanuel Nicaise, CISSP, president, (ISC)² Belux Chapter. “Becoming an (ISC)² member is more than passing an exam, it's

WannaCry and NotPetya aftermath means payouts and panic. Here are the top security headlines for the week of August 7, 2017: Big money, no whammies! It seems like the hackers behind WannaCry have cashed out their bitcoin into Monero, a harder to track cryptocurrency. Mo money means mo malware. The success – can we call it that? – of WannaCry and NotPetya means ransomware is not going away any time soon, because… well, people and businesses pay the ransom. What’s that definition of insanity? Oh yeah, doing the same thing and expecting a different result… Tripwire research indicates that two-thirds of security pros don’t think their organization has made the necessary improvements since this summer’s ransomware attacks.   Your route

ATMs, HBO, democracy … what can’t be hacked? Here are the top security headlines for the week of July 31, 2017: IOActive hacked at ATM at Black Hat. I guess drinks are on them? Espionage was just a red herring. Apparently hackers in North Korea are looking for cash, not secrets. DefCon attendees shredded voting machines – some still being used in U.S. elections. Don’t worry, it’s for research. “If all your friends were downloading torrents, then would you too?” It seems like everyone is doing it, but even downloading just the BitTorrent clients (the software needed to run them) can make your device and data vulnerable to infection. Inspired by DefCon, Naked Security took a deep dive into Dark